Small business owners count the cost of South Africa's power cuts

December 11, 2019 - Johannesburg, South Africa, Africa - When South Africa suffered unprecedented power cuts this week as flooding slashed thousands of megawatts off an overstretched grid, bakery owner Maike Vandereydt-Speer was unable to brew coffee, toast sandwiches or even switch on the lights. Economic fallout from the power blackouts is widespread with large-scale mining companies shutting down across South Africa on Monday, but they are better placed to weather the storm than more fragile smaller businesses.